
mj53
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Everything posted by mj53
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But once I submit it I thought I couldn't go back and change anything. It asks for my signature to verify I'm not giving any false information. Since I'm basically estimating (and probably pretty poorly at that), isn't that submitting false information?
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It's asking how much I was taxed in 2011 and since I don't do my taxes for another couple months am I supposed to estimate this as best I can? Or should I be waiting to complete my FAFSA for a bit? Everything I read about filing for FAFSA was to do it in January when it opens but I can't possibly answer some of the financial questions with 100% certainty.
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this may be in the wrong section but I didn't know where to put it
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Probably a dumb question, but if Im given some kind of assistantship or stipend if I get accepted does the fact that I'm out of state still make my tuition costs higher or is it negated by the fact that the school is giving me assistance? I just keep looking at the costs for out of state tuition and in state for the grad schools I applied to and they're a huge difference. I guess since I never went out of state for my undergrad I didn't realize the significant difference and most of the schools I'd prefer to go to that I applied to are out of state. Basically trying to get a grasp on the finances of everything at the moment so anyone who has experience with financial aid for grad school your input is appreciated.
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I'm planning on giving a small gift and a letter during admits for one of mine. I work with the other two who wrote me letters and will take them out to lunch whenever we get the chance. But yeah for those who don't see theirs every day a letter is sufficient during admits I would think. A small gift is optional and if not too over the too, appropriate as well.
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Yes I do know why. He deserved to be fired. It falls under the classification of poor productivity followed by some unprofessional remarks but I don't want to get too into detail on here.
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How does this affect my application, if at all? My letters have already been completed and sent in. This is a doctor who works with me at a private practice. It's possible the schools won't even know but if they were to find out does this reflect poorly on me? It's not like I had any way of seeing this coming either. Anyone been in a similar situation?
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First deadline December 1st, Recommender hasn't responded
mj53 replied to mj53's topic in Letters of Recommendation
Yes he has. I stopped by his office and dropped off all the information for my schools in a packet back in mid-October. Then dropped off another form I forgot to include at the end of October. Then I thought I'd give him some time and be patient because he wrote a letter for me last year as well. Last year he got them done before Thanksgiving though. Im giving him Monday to respond to the email, will be at his office on Tuesday if I hear nothing. Will be cutting him and writing the letter myself (and letting my other LOR submit it) on Wednesday if I can't get in contact with him. -
Sent an e-mail on Sunday about my recommendations to one of my recommenders and haven't heard anything from him. With it being Thanksgiving break now, time to panic? At best I hear from him Monday Im guessing. And that's cutting it really close in my opinion. Really hating how unreliable professors can be. I have my other two letters already done from employers and he was my only professor recommendation. I have the option to get another one from another employer which would basically result in me writing the letter for myself though. It's pretty much my emergency "out" if you will. Wondering when I should pull the cord on that emergency out right about now..... How long would you guys give the professor until? Should I try emailing him more over the holidays or just wait until Sunday to email if I havent heard anything still.
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How would I approach reminding a doctor I work with who is writing me letters? I don't really want to e-mail him. Would rather ask him face to face since I see him every day but I don't really know how to word it without sounding pushy. Basically Im worried about the week of Thanksgiving since our office will be closed all week that week. So basically if I don't get the letters I need to mail myself back from him by next week I'll be in full out panic mode (first deadline December 1st)
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I'm applying to both because I feel like I lack the experience for a PhD program. It really doesn't hurt to tack on a few if you're worried about not getting in to PhD programs. I wish I had known all of this last year when I first applied and got shot down by a bunch of PhD only programs.
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No response from LOR after 2 emails....time to freak out?
mj53 replied to mj53's topic in Letters of Recommendation
I emailed him at a different email. Im only giving him a few days at this point. I have a backup I can use if need be and to be honest the back up will be just as strong of a letter. I just didnt want to have two coming from where I work because Im paranoid that looks worse even though they're all doctors at the end of the day. -
No response from LOR after 2 emails....time to freak out?
mj53 replied to mj53's topic in Letters of Recommendation
I do have another e-mail of his which his last response came from me through in April. But Ive always contacted his university email when talking and never had a problem. Probably send a third email tomorrow if I still have no response to the other non-university email to see if maybe he's just not checking the university one any more. -
Sent the first e-mail Sept. 27th. No response for about a week and a half so I sent a follow up to on October 6th. Still no response. He agreed to write the LOR in April when I was rejected last year (he wrote me one last year and said he had no problem with writing me another one when I tried again). This is irritating. Now I have to scramble for a 3rd letter? He could at least respond to the most recent e-mail. I even gave him an out asking to let me know if he was unable to write one.
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Am I supposed to put a return address on the envelopes I provide for my LOR's to mail in (ya know, just in case)? And if so what address do I use? Mine or theirs? Or should I just leave it blank and not worry about it.
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This one is simple for me. I would have been in the honors program. Because I switched majors a couple times my counselor for the field I want to be in failed to mention the importance of the honors program. I actually didn't even know it existed until I was pretty deep into my classes....and then...well...I was screwed. It's easily the single most important reason I'm struggling to get back into school. The honors program gave students opportunities to present at conferences and publish papers and what not and I missed these opportunities. Feels bad man.
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So my original plan was to have my boss at work write one for me, then I had two professors from school lined up to write my other two. But one of my professors I haven't heard back from and am now nervous. My backup plan is that where I work I work with two doctors, both in my profession of choice, but only one of the doctors is actually my boss. Like I said he's writing me one for sure. Would it be a terrible move to have the other one write me one as well if my other professor flakes? I feel like it's kind of repetitive to have two from essentially the same source. Where I work is a small private practice so I feel like two from the same source would be frowned upon. On the bright side he probably knows me a little better than the professor who may flake.
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Recommender not responding!! (When to freak out?)
mj53 replied to tendaysleft's topic in Letters of Recommendation
Im hoping on this bandwagon. E-mailed my Recommender a week ago asking when would be a good time to stop by his office to talk to him about grad school and to give him the info for my school's. No response. He wrote one for me last year as well and agreed to write me another in May after I was rejected. The e-mail I sent him a week ago was the first I've spoken to him since and basically just summed up the schools Im applying to, my SOP, and asked him when a good time would be to stop by his office. Officially panicked and if I dont hear from him by next week Im definitely e-mailing again. -
ugh...I have this problem too. I have two schools with 500 word limits and another school with a 400 word limit. I go over on all of them by about 80 words. I've trimmed it as much as I can and they're just gonna have to deal with it.
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Would this be frowned upon to mention holding a degree in Finance as well as Psychology? I feel the background in math (more importantly the statistics courses I've taken) would be relevant but Im not sure how schools would react to having a degree that's very diverse from the field of Psychology. Im not planning on talking about it much at all. Right now I just sort of have it casually slipped in to my SOPs that I graduated with both. And then on the actual application I was planning on putting it as well. Good idea or bad idea?
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Im planning on applying to 14 schools this year. Im pretty much taking one last shot at getting back into school and want to apply to as many as possible so that's why Im applying to so many. Has anyone ever had a professor who agreed to write LOR for you get upset about having too many? This kind of worries me cause Im pretty limited with the people I can get to write me LOR and I dont want to have to cut my list down.
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Im actually thinking about dropping paragraph 2 (one about which professor I fit with best), down to #5 and slide everything up one. That way I can talk about things I've done first, then when talking about the professors I can mention back to things I've already done/seen and how it fits with their research. I thought about the format a lot tonight on my rough drafts and that's what I want to change the most. Now I just need to go through and expand a little more in some areas and condense some other areas and I think my SOPs will be good to go. I'll try to get more specific on my career goals. I'd really like to but I feel like Im almost lying to them if I go too specific cause Im just not at that point in my life where I can say that and that alone is what I want to research. I just know the field I want to research and for someone without a masters is it really that big of a deal? I just assumed grad school is where I would get more guidance to narrow it down specifically.
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How important is it to have a very specific idea of my career goals prepared and put into the SOP for the work I want to do? Ultimately I'd like to do research and I have a rough idea of what I'd like to do it in (I'd like to be involved in the neurological or social processes that trigger aggressive behavior) so do I need to be super specific about what I specifically want to research because Im having a good bit of trouble there. Right now my SOPs have more a of a broadly defined idea about the research I'd like to do and how the research at their program interests me. I am applying to both terminal Masters and PhD schools as well and they all sort of have the same format with various details switched about in each of them, but all in all not a very specific thesis type statement in them. Am I screwed without one? Basically my format is: 1. Intro with why Im interested in this field and that I'd like to be involved in research in my career (kind of put in more vague terms rather than a specific I want to be heavily involved in this one particular thing kind of terms....which is the best way I have to describe my career goals at the moment) 2. About the Professors I think I would best fit with and why I like their research. 3. A little background about my time as an undergrad where I mention one or two classes I took that I think specifically will sere me well moving forward in the current program Im applying to. And a very very brief section about any societies I've been in and honors accumulated in my undergrad career and computer programs im familiar with (this is basically two quick sentences because I didn't want to waste too much time on it) 4. My time spent as a research assistant (which unfortunately has little to do with aggression. It dealt more with memory but it was the best I could do at the time when I was looking for research) 5. About my current job, as a testing assistant at a neuropsychology center where I get hands on experience with individuals suffering from a wide array of disabilities/mental illnesses. 6. Conclusion where I go back over what I want to do career wise, again in sort of a broad way, how I fit in their program, and how I hope to be part of their program Any input in appreciated. It's all still a little rough. I'd like to condense Paragraph 3 more and expand on paragraph 5 for sure. All in all it's about two pages single spaced.
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I know it's common practice to e-mail a professor you're interested in working with when you apply for PhD programs but does this also hold true for terminal Masters programs? I applied to PhD only programs last year and did not get in so this year Im including some terminal Masters programs and I'm trying to gauge if the same rules apply. I guess Im asking this question because I feel like with a Masters program you aren't working as closely with a single professor as you would be in a PhD program. Or am I just completely wrong here? I've put together a list of schools which I plan on applying to so is it customary for applicants to email professors in the department for terminal Masters programs as well? Also a side note, if anyone would like to give me some pointers on what to include in such an e-mail let me know. I did them last year but I was fairly brief in them so if someone with better experience who has actually been accepted wouldn't mind sharing how they approached the first e-mail to a prospective professor I'd definitely like to hear what you have to say. Thanks.
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So I got rejected from everywhere this year (mainly my fault for only applying to PhD programs when I should have had some Masters programs as well due to lack of experience). But now I have the unfortunate task of having to e-mail all my recommenders that I didn't get in and need another LOR for next year. I find it very embarrassing and have just sort of been staring at a blank e-mail message for the last 30 minutes cause I don't know how to word this without sounded pathetic. For those who have had to do this before, what was the best way to word your e-mail? Obviously you thank them for taking the time to write the first. Didn't think I would be in this position when I first applied and it really sucks badly.